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My older cat won't get along with my new kitten. How to help?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | American Wirehair | Female

I have a one year old female deaf cat and just got a 10week old kitten my older cat isn't getting along with the new kitten how can I get them to be friend? Would they ever be friends?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jeffrey Milner

Veterinarian

Published on May 15th, 2017

Often new cats can take a while to get used to one another. If you still have the opportunity, I would try to reintroduce them slowly. Keep them in separate rooms at first. This will allow them to be near each other, smell each other, but not touch or injure one another. After a few days, I would place them in a room together with the kitten in like a large dog crate for a while. This will accomplish the same goal as above but allow for closer contact and touching. Have some supervised sessions when they are loose together, rewarding any positive behavior by both of them with praise and treats. Cats respond the same way as dogs do to positive reinforcement in many cases. If the supervised sessions are going well, you should hopefully be able to integrate the two of them fully after a while. Unfortunately, there are some cats that simply do not do well with others in spite of training and behavioral modification. If this is the case, the hope is that the two will simply ignore one another rather than fight.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Megan, DVM, CVA

    Veterinarian

    Published on June 23rd, 2018

    It will likely take some time to get use to each other. I would put some feliway diffusers throughout the house to help keep all the cats calm. Feliway is a cat pheromones that helps to calm cats. They even have a multi cat household version. I would also make sure you have multiple litter boxes. Introduce them slowly by first allowing them to smell each other through the bottom of a door. I also wouldnt leave them unsupervised until you know they get along. Since he is blind and deaf it may take more time but just be patient, they usually adapt. I hope this helps!

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